Russian authorities charge independent TV network Dozhd with violating ‘foreign agent’ requirements

Russia’s federal censor has flagged a violation of “foreign agent” disclosure requirements supposedly committed by the independent television network Dozhd. According to summons paperwork addressed to the network’s CEO and online chief editor, Dozhd distributed information about “foreign agents” in a report on June 29 about Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation without notifying readers about the organization’s “foreign agent” designation in Russia (though the text in question does, in fact, mention this status).

Under Russian law, failing to disclose “foreign agent” designations to readers carries fines as high as 50,000 rubles (about $700).

• Recently, the same federal agency, RKN, charged two activists with violating “foreign agent” requirements, marking the first time that Russia has pressed such misdemeanor charges against individuals.
• Dozhd itself was added to Russia’s “foreign agent” registry on August 20, 2021.